Permafrost and Climate Change

Alaska is among the fastest-warming regions on Earth. Recent studies show the rate of Arctic-wide warming is almost four times faster in the last four decades than anywhere else on the planet.

—Rantanen et al. 2022

 

Retrogressive thaw slump in the upper Noatak National Preserve. These slumps occur where a cut-bank in ice-rich permafrost advances into undisturbed ground as material thaws in the steep bank, falls or slumps onto the adjacent gentler slope, and then is transported away by water erosion or sliding.

NPS Photo

Due to global warming, permafrost is melting, and with its thawing comes a collection of consequences. Physical landscapes are changing, lakes are draining, landslides in locations where thawed soil is overlaying permafrost are becoming more prevalent, carbon that was once stored and frozen in soil is being released, leading to increased global warming. Wildfires are thriving, and human infrastructure is being destroyed.

Rising temperatures are creating an environment where permafrost cannot exist. Different environmental features, such as water sources (lakes, ponds, boggy areas, etc.), vegetation, and wildlife, that rely on the presence of permafrost are being negatively impacted. Because of the rapid rate of change, some species are not able to adapt, evolve, and survive. Scientists are working to better understand these changes.

Learn More:

• Crossing the Zero-Degree Threshold: Research Review
• Increasing Temperatures in Alaska National Parks
• High-Latitude National Parks on the Cusp of Change
• NPS Alaska Planning and Designs for the Future with Climate Change
• A Tale of Two Spruce
• Pretty Rocks Landslide
• Fourth National Climate Assessment: Alaska Region

For Kids:

• Taking the Pulse of U.S. National Parks
• Permafrost and Draining Lakes in Arctic Alaska
• Two Degrees Matters